Now Commenting On:

Lind having no trouble finding groove at plate

BRADENTON, Fla. -- It's a far cry from being Mr. October, but Adam Lind seems to have this Spring Training thing down to a science.

Lind entered play Wednesday afternoon hitting .440, which ranks fourth among all qualified batters during the Grapefruit League season.

The feat is something Lind has a track record with, considering since 2011 he has arguably been Toronto's best spring hitter -- as evidenced by his .359 (46-for-128) overall average.

"He is really focused right now," manager John Gibbons said. "He's in good shape. I think from Day 1, what does he need to do, I remember Adam was a guy that used the whole field. He has power to all fields and he's doing that.

"When I saw him a bit in Kansas City, when I was there, it looked like he was strictly pulling the ball. When he's using the whole field, that's when he's really dangerous."

Lind continued his hot streak versus the Pirates on Wednesday, going 2-for-3 with an RBI.

If that's going to continue during the regular season, Lind will need to maintain a similar approach at the plate. There's been plenty of talk during Spring Trainings the past few years about getting him to hit to all fields, but it hasn't necessarily carried over into the season.

Gibbons, though, doesn't think it should be a difficult adjustment to become that type of all-around hitter once again.

"No, because he has done that before," Gibbons said. "A lot of guys will come up through the Minor Leagues and they're strictly pull hitters. They don't have the ability to use the whole field like that. Those guys don't have anything to fall back on."